


Steeling Down Under

by NorahBolt56



Category: Remington Steele (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:21:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29020380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NorahBolt56/pseuds/NorahBolt56
Summary: Laura and Remington take a trip to Australia to help out an old friend of Laura's, but Mr Steele is somewhat reluctant to head Down Under..
Relationships: Laura Holt/Remington Steele
Comments: 15
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

A few months or so after their wedding, Laura and Remington were in Laura’s office at the agency discussing a case one day when the phone rang. As Mildred was out to lunch Laura picked up the phone to answer it. “Good afternoon -Remington Steele Investigations.”

A smile crossed her face as she heard the person’s voice on the other end greet her, “Hi Laura – how’s things? Long time no talk.”

“Nic! How are you?” Laura greeted her old friend excitedly as her husband raised a curious eyebrow at her, wondering who this ‘Nick’ person was who his wife appeared so happy to hear from.

“Oh I’m sorry to hear that – what happened?” Laura asked as a concerned look crossed her face.

“Of course - I’m happy to help if I can. Our caseload’s fairly light at the moment so I’m sure we could swing it - I’ll look into flights and let you know once we’ve booked something,” Laura said into the phone as Remington mouthed at her, “Who are you talking to and where are we going?” as she shushed him so she could concentrate on the call.

“No it’s no trouble at all. Oh who’s ‘we’? Sorry I’ve been meaning to get in touch and let you know – I got married a few months ago,” Laura informed the caller as a smile crossed her face and she looked at Remington who couldn’t help a relieved grin as he thought to himself, ‘Well at least this Nick chap whoever he is, knows she’s married now.”

“Yes we work together at the agency,” Laura went on to explain, leaving out that her husband was the titular head of said agency. She chatted for a few more minutes with the caller while Remington drummed his fingers a little impatiently on the desk and looked at her expectantly, itching to know who she was talking to. Finally Laura wrapped up the call, “Okay talk to you soon. Take care,” then hung up.

“So who was that then?” Remington asked.

“It was my old friend from Australia, Nic Williams,” Laura informed him.

“Australia? I didn’t know you knew any Australians Laura. And what did this Nick fellow want?” he inquired, a muscle working in his cheek as he tried to quell the niggle of jealousy he was feeling.

At that Laura laughed a little. “What’s so funny?” Remington demanded.

“Well for a start Nic is a woman – it’s short for Nicole,” she explained, much to Remington’s relief. “I met her when I spent a semester studying in Australia during my junior year in college. It was an exchange program between Stanford and the University of Sydney. She was assigned as my ‘buddy’ and roommate in the residential college at the university and we got on like a house on fire. I had a ball while I was there,” Laura reminisced with a broad smile. “I’ve always wanted to go back but have never had the chance. We’ve kept in touch over the years – letters mainly and phone calls every now and again.”

“Well you’re full of surprises aren’t you Laura? So what does she need your help with?"

“She’s a marine biologist – she’s based at the University of Sydney actually when she’s not travelling around the country doing research. She and her team have recently been investigating ways of using seawater as an energy resource while having a minimal impact on the sealife and apparently had been making some real headway but all the research was recently stolen. So she asked for my help in finding out what happened to it and retrieving it.”

“So have the local authorities investigated? Or surely they have private investigators ‘Down Under’?” Remington asked, surprising Laura somewhat with his apparent reticence.

“Well they want to try and keep it under wraps as adverse publicity could jeopardise the ongoing funding of their research so they haven’t involved the police at this point. And she said she’d rather have someone on the case who she knows and trusts so she called me,” Laura replied.

When her husband pulled on his earlobe, a tell-tale sign that she well knew meant he was nervous about something, Laura got up from her seat and linking her arms around his neck, fingered the lapel of his suit jacket. “Anyway it could be a good excuse for a vacation Mr Steele – after all we haven’t really had a chance to have a proper honeymoon. We’re not too busy at the moment so we could shut the agency for a couple of weeks – I’m sure Mildred would appreciate the break too. Just think –beautiful weather, golden beaches, amazing scenery..,” she said in an effort to convince him, a dimpled smile crossing her face which she knew he’d find hard to resist.

His mind however was finishing her sentence with “spiders, snakes, sharks, crocodiles and who knows what else trying to kill you!”. Mr Steele had also visited Australia in his younger years, and while he agreed it certainly had its charms, his memories of the Antipodes didn’t appear to be quite as delightful as Laura’s.

“Well yes that all sounds lovely Laura but..” he went to argue.

“But what Rem? I’m sensing some reluctance here. Tell me, this wouldn’t have anything to do with ‘Richard Blaine’s’ former exploits would it? I gather you’ve been to Australia as well?” Laura cut him off, referring to one of his former passport names.

“Well yes I have but I assure you my reluctance has nothing to do with my former ‘activities’ Laura,” he replied uncomfortably.

“Well what then?” Laura demanded.

Remington scrambled to think of an excuse. “Well I mean it’s so far – who wants to be on a plane for 15 hours? And we have lovely weather and beaches right here in California,” he pointed out.

“Rem come on – she’s an old dear friend who needs my help. She was there for me years ago, so now I have a chance to return the favour,” Laura stated in an effort to convince him, appealing to his good heart which she knew could never turn his back on someone who needed help. And he knew from the determined look in her eye that this was one argument he wasn’t going to win.

“Okay, okay - you drive a hard bargain Mrs Steele,” he conceded with a sigh as Laura rewarded him with a kiss and a smile then murmured against his lips,”I’ll book the tickets.”


	2. Chapter 2

A couple of days later..

While they were in their bedroom packing for their trip, Laura rang her friend Nic to inform her when their flight was arriving in Sydney. “Oh sorry I would have come and picked you up from the airport but I’ll be in Brissy for a few days as Dad’s not well – I get back the day after you fly in,” Nicole apologized. “No that’s fine – sorry to hear your Dad’s not well. I’ve booked us into a hotel anyway,” Laura replied.

“Well after your first night you can come and stay with me once I get back.”

“Oh that’s really not necessary – we don’t want to put you out..”

“Nonsense – you’re flying halfway round the world to help me out. The least I can do is put you and your hubby up while you’re here,” Nicole insisted.

“Okay, okay – thankyou,” Laura conceded with a laugh, knowing her old friend wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Speaking of which – tell me more about this husband of yours. Is he cute?” Nicole asked curiously with a mischievous laugh.

“Very,” Laura replied, a dimpled smile crossing her face as she admired the view of his denim-clad rear as he bent over to grab something out of a drawer.

“So is he from LA like you?”

“No he’s not. He’s Irish by birth actually but he spent a while in England in his younger years, well actually he spent a while in quite a few places,” Laura stated as Remington turned around and grinned at her.

“Oh I’m betting he’s got a gorgeous accent then?” Nicole enthused.

“Certainly has,” Laura confirmed as her smile got a bit wider and Remington wondered what they were talking about.

“Well I can’t wait to meet him and to see you again Laura – it’s been too long.”

“Indeed it has. Can’t wait to see you again too. We’ll give you a call when we arrive okay. We’re staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. Yes we will – you too. See you soon,” Laura said into the phone before hanging up.

“So what were you and your friend Nicole chatting about?” Remington asked with a grin as he packed some more clothes into his suitcase.

“Oh she was just asking about my husband. She wanted to know if you were cute,” Laura replied with a mischievous gleam in her brown eyes as she came up to him.

“Oh I see – and what did you tell her?” Remington asked as he arched an eyebrow at her and pursed his lips.

“I told her you were very cute and that you had a gorgeous accent,” she murmured as she ran a hand over one of his shoulders as a delighted grin crossed his face.

“Well that’s good to know,” he quipped as he pulled her into his arms.

“She’s invited us to stay at her place – she’ll pick us up from the hotel the morning after we get in. She’s got to go up to Brisbane for a few days to see her father who’s not well,” Laura explained as Remington nodded.

“I guess we’ll just have to amuse ourselves then for a while eh?” he stated as he traced one of her cheeks tenderly.

“Yes I guess we will Rem,” Laura replied with a meaningful look which he returned.

“Hmm.. any ideas what we could do to while away our first night in Sydney?” Remington asked as he pulled her even closer and Laura pressed herself against him, their packing suddenly forgotten.

“Let’s see -we could take in a show at the Opera House or take a walk though the Botanical Gardens? Or grab dinner at a waterfront restaurant somewhere. Is that what you had in mind Mr Steele?” Laura teased him a little as she ran a hand though his hair.

“Well while they all sound like excellent ideas Mrs Steele, I think I had something a bit more intimate in mind,” Remington murmured as he brought his lips to hers, Laura responding enthusiastically to him. When they finally drew apart, Laura breathed, “Was that a preview?”.

Remington nodded, then pushed their suitcases off the bed, Laura laughing as their clothes spilt out of them. “Now we’ll have to pack all over again,” she pointed out as Remington laid her down on the bed. “Well as the infamous Australian bushranger Ned Kelly said with his last breath, ‘Such is life,” he quipped with a grin.

“I didn’t know you were such an expert in Australian history Rem,” Laura laughed as she pulled him down to her. “Oh that’s just one of things I’m an expert in Laura,” he replied as he gave her a suggestive look. “Oh is that right?” she countered with a dimpled grin of her own, knowing full well that he was definitely an expert in the bedroom, a fact that she enjoyed very much. “You know it is,” he chuckled, his lips covering hers as she nodded in confirmation and they proceeded to quickly add more clothes to the pile on the floor, losing themselves in each other yet again…

************************************

“I still find it hard to believe your mother let you go half way round the world for a few months on your own when you were in college,” Remington stated with a chuckle as he and Laura chatted while on their flight to Sydney. “Well I convinced her it would be good for my education and she couldn’t really argue with that,” Laura replied with a grin. “It was an adventure and I couldn’t pass up an opportunity like that,” she added. “And was it good.. for your education?” Remington asked with an amused grin as the mischievous gleam that he loved lit up his wife’s eyes. “Oh it certainly was,” she replied with a chuckle then asked, “So how about you? You haven’t told me about your time in Australia”.

“Well Daniel and I did visit one time,” Remington replied, a slightly cagey expression crossing his face. Laura gave him a knowing look, “I see. And what exactly did you and the inimitable Mr Chalmers get up to while you were there?”

“Oh this and that,” Remington answered somewhat evasively, his mind going back to a time in his life roughly ten years previously…

_1977, the South of France…_

“Harry my boy - pack your bags!” Daniel announced to his then 25 year old protégé as he came into the apartment they were staying in at that time. “What? Why?” Harry replied in surprise. “Why you may well ask Harry! Because we are off to the Antipodes! I’ve just heard of the most wonderful opportunity for us Down Under,” Daniel replied with an excited gleam in his eye. “Down Under? As in Australia?” Harry asked incredulously as Daniel nodded.

“Apparently the largest collection of Australian opals are going on display for the first time ever – they’re worth millions Harry!” Daniel went on, rubbing his hands together with glee. “Millions?” Harry asked with a grin – that had certainly got his attention. “Millions my boy! Just imagine – this could be the making of us,” Daniel stated. “Well what are we waiting for?” Harry laughed as he grabbed his bag and started packing.

Before they knew it they were on a Qantas flight bound for Sydney. “Look at that Harry – now that’s a sight hey?” Daniel said as they looked out the plane window at Sydney Harbour sparkling in the sunshine, spanned by the Harbour Bridge and with the distinctive white sails of the Sydney Opera House on one point of land that jutted out into the harbour. Harry grinned as he took it in. Never in his wildest dreams would that young boy from Dublin have believed he’d find himself on the other side of the world in Australia..

And here he was again, except this time he was accompanying his wife, the woman who had changed his life, and his former mentor who had turned out to be his long lost father, was no longer with them. Even a skilled conman like Daniel hadn’t been able to cheat death, Remington thought a little wryly to himself. Sensing the slight change in his mood and guessing the reason behind it, Laura gently took one of his hands in hers and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “You’ll always have your memories of him,” she whispered tenderly, giving him a meaningful look as Remington gave her a grateful smile and nodded, then lifted her hand that was holding his to his lips and kissed it. “How do you know me so well Laura?” he marveled. “I guess because you’re my other half Rem,” she replied with a smile.

Remington leant over to kiss her only to be interrupted by a flight attendant saying, ”Sorry to interrupt folks but as you mentioned it was your honeymoon Mr Steele we’d like to give you some complimentary champagne,” handing them a champagne flute each as she did so.

They thanked her then once she’d walked off, Laura asked under her breath, “You told them we were on our honeymoon?”.

“Well you said so yourself Laura, we haven’t had a chance to have a proper honeymoon - I’d hardly call that debacle in Mexico a honeymoon or the time we spent in Ireland. We seemed to be doing everything but spending time together so I figured we should remedy that situation on this trip, as much as we can anyway. And what’s the harm in getting some free champagne eh?” Remington quipped with a cheeky lopsided grin as Laura had to agree, “No harm at all Mr Steele,”…


	3. Chapter 3

Once the plane eventually landed in Sydney, Laura and Remington grabbed their cabin baggage and disembarked, then collected their other bags from the carousel and headed for Immigration & Customs. ”I wish I still had my Richard Blaine passport,” Remington grumbled under his breath as the line they found themselves in was quite long, compared to the line of Australian citizens & permanent residents returning back home.

Laura shushed him, “Be patient Rem – we’ll get there eventually,” as they shuffled forward a bit in the line, both of them stifling yawns after the roughly 15 hour flight. When it was finally their turn they were called forward by a middle aged, female Customs & Immigration Officer. As tired as he was, Remington put on his most charming smile in order to expediate their way through the entry process. “Good morning – welcome to Australia. Can I see your passports please,” she greeted them, a smile crossing her face in response to the smile on the face of the handsome man standing in front of her. Remington and Laura handed her their passports, Remington laying on the charm as he did so, saying, “Certainly. And may I say what a fine job you’re doing here,” as Laura tried not to roll her eyes too much.

“Why thankyou.. Mr Steele,” the woman almost giggled as she blushed a little and stamped his passport then gave it back to him then did the same to Laura’s. “So is your visit for business or pleasure?” she went on. Remington couldn’t help but cock a devilish eyebrow at her. “A bit of both hopefully,” he quipped as Laura tried unsuccessfully to hide a mischievous grin of her own. “Well we always manage to mix business with pleasure so well don’t we dear?” Laura stated as she held onto his arm, making it clear he was very much taken.

“We certainly do my love,” Remington replied with a cheeky lopsided grin. “Now have you anything to declare?” the officer asked, in reference to their customs declaration. “Nothing except my love for my wife here,” Remington replied as Laura smiled at him. The officer couldn’t help but smile at the two of them, thinking to herself, ‘what a lucky woman’, as she checked their declaration forms then waved them through, wishing them a good stay as she did so.

After clearing Customs & Immigration they headed out of the terminal and hopped into an awaiting taxi cab. “G’day folks – where you headed?” the cab driver asked as he got out and helped Remington load their luggage into the boot of the car. “The Intercontinental Hotel thanks,” Laura informed him.

“So just flew in from the States huh?” the driver asked as he pulled away from the curb after hearing Laura’s accent. They both nodded in confirmation, Remington replying, “Yes from Los Angeles my good man. “ The cabbie chuckled a little. “What’s a Pom coming from LA to Sydney for?” he asked curiously after hearing Remington’s English accent. Remington grinned and replied, “Well we’re here to visit an old friend of my wife’s and to have a bit of a holiday as well.”

“Well you’ve come at the right time – the weather’s been bloody beautiful!” the cab driver enthused. Laura nodded in agreement as she looked out the window at the blue sky and sunshine although Remington had to admit, even after his years spent in California, it was a tad warm for his liking. “Ah you couldn’t put the aircon up a bit could you mate?” he asked as the cabbie chuckled, “No probs – a bit warm for you hey? Well you better get used to it – we’re in for a heat wave this week.’

“Oh great,” Remington sighed, resting his chin in his hand as he leant on the arm rest of the door. Laura couldn’t help a smile as she observed him. “Oh come on Rem – I’m sure we’ll find ways to keep cool,” she laughed but Remington didn’t look too convinced.

“Yeah mate – just whack on some thongs and a pair of stubbies and you’ll be right!” the cab driver put in with a grin. “I beg your pardon? I can assure you I won’t be doing that!” Remington replied rather indignantly, misunderstanding what the other man meant. Laura giggled as she remembered having the same misunderstanding the first time she had come to Australia and Nicole had asked her if she’d brought any thongs, which meant something very different in Australia to what it meant in the U.S. “He means flip-flops Rem not ah..underwear,” she explained with a grin as he looked relieved and then a little embarrassed. “Oh yes, well of course I knew that,” he replied hurriedly.

“And stubbies are shorts if I remember correctly?” Laura asked the cab driver who nodded in confirmation. “Got it in one luv,” he laughed then added, “Although a stubby is also a small beer bottle.” Remington shook his head and muttered, “Remind me again Laura how you convinced me to come here? It’s sweltering hot, the local slang is bloody confusing and there’s no shortage of dangerous wildlife!”

The driver looked at him in the rear view mirror and replied with a laugh, “Strewth mate why don’t you take a leaf out of your missus’ book and relax a bit? We do have air con here you know and you’re not likely to encounter too much wildlife staying in the city. And you’ll get used to the lingo after a while.”

“He’s right you know,” Laura put in as she gave her husband a meaningful look and grabbing his hand gave it a reassuring squeeze. “Now how about we just relax and make the most of our time here? Just think – relaxing with cocktails by the pool, romantic strolls along the beach..,” she murmured as she flashed him a dimpled smile which he couldn’t help but return. “Well when you put it like that I guess it doesn’t sound so bad,” Remington conceded. “Exactly. And let’s not forget we’ve got a case to solve while we’re here which should keep us busy as well,” Laura reminded him.

It didn’t take long for the taxi to reach their hotel. Remington paid the driver and thanked him as he hopped out. “No worries mate – have a good one hey? Enjoy those strolls on the beach with your missus,” the driver replied with a wink before driving off.

They checked in and caught the elevator up to their room on one of the top floors. As they stepped inside the room their gaze was immediately drawn to the view from the floor to ceiling windows of Sydney Harbour. Ferries and other boats dotted the waters that were sparkling in the afternoon sun. To their left they had a view of the Harbour Bridge which joined the city to the north shore of the harbour and to their right, the white sailed structure of the Sydney Opera House dominated the view. “Oh Rem – look at the view – it’s magnificent! It’s just like I remember,” Laura enthused as Remington found himself smiling as well, finding her enthusiasm catching. “It certainly is,” he agreed as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin atop of her head as she leant back into him and covered his hands with her own.

“So Mrs Steele what do you fancy doing first? A walk around Circular Quay perhaps or are you hungry? We could grab a late lunch somewhere if you like,” Remington suggested.

“Well both of those sound good but I’d really like to have a shower first to freshen up a bit,” Laura replied as she turned around to face him and linked her arms around his neck. “Care to join me Mr Steele?” she asked, her voice husky as a lopsided grin crossed Remington’s face. “I thought you’d never ask,” he replied. “That is if you’re not too tired after the flight,” she teased him a little. “Oh I think I’m getting my second wind,” he murmured as he went to kiss her, but Laura playfully wriggled out of his arms and ran to the bathroom, with Remington in hot pursuit, the lilt of her laughter spurring him on.

Sometime later they emerged from the shower thoroughly sated and refreshed. “Well we certainly christened that room eh?” Remington quipped with a mischievous wiggle of his eyebrows as Laura replied with a sultry smile, “I’ll say.”

“Well if you keep looking at me like that Laura we’ll never leave this hotel room,” Remington chuckled as he shot her a meaningful look.

“Promises, promises Rem,” Laura laughed as she planted a kiss on his lips before opening her luggage to find something to wear. “Which I intend to keep my love, but I guess we should get something to eat at least. I don’t know about you but I’m starving,” Remington replied. Laura nodded in agreement – now that he had mentioned food she found her stomach rumbling, their previous meal being on the plane quite a few hours before.

They dressed quickly then headed downstairs and out of the hotel. They wandered down to The Rocks, a historic area of Sydney that bordered the harbour and found a lovely Italian restaurant on the water’s edge. They both ordered pasta dishes and a bottle of wine from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. As they ate and drank they talked & laughed, enjoying each other’s company and the beautiful views. After they finished their meal, they strolled hand in hand around to the Botanical Gardens and walked around the Opera House, marveling at its architecture. They then stopped to watch the reflection of the setting sun on the waters of the harbour.

“As much as I’m looking forward to catching up with Nic and helping her out, I must admit I’m enjoying having some time together just the two of us Rem,” Laura confessed as they stood together and she leant her head against him as he put an arm around her. “I know the feeling Laura. It is rather nice to have no interruptions,” Remington agreed with a smile.

“And no-one shooting at us,” Laura added with a laugh. Remington nodded with a chuckle, “And as fond as I am of her, it’s a refreshing change not to have to worry about Mildred walking in on us.”

“Oh indeed,” Laura agreed.

They took their time walking back to the hotel, taking in the sights and sounds of Sydney. They stopped for a while to listen to an indigenous Australian who was playing the didgeridoo to entertain tourists, before looking in a few shops. They bought a few souvenirs for Laura’s family and Mildred then both of them starting to feel a bit weary they headed back to their room.

Remington lay down on the bed as Laura got changed into her nightgown. A lopsided grin crossed his face as he watched her which she returned. “Hold that thought Rem,” she stated with a promising look as she disappeared into the bathroom, only to find when she emerged a few minutes later that he had fallen asleep. A rueful smile crossed her face as she watched him sleeping, realising jet-lag had got the better of him and also acknowledging she was feeling pretty tired herself. She lovingly pushed back the lock of hair that had fallen across his forehead as she softly kissed his cheek, whispering so as not to wake him, “Sweet dreams Mr Steele.” Shen then hopped into bed next to him, and before long sleep had claimed her as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Laura awoke the next morning to find Remington already awake and showered. He was sitting outside on the balcony of their hotel room wearing a bath robe and reading a newspaper as he tucked into some breakfast, enjoying the morning sun. “Morning my love – how did you sleep? I took the liberty of ordering us some breakfast,” he greeted her with a broad smile. “I slept like a log – I didn’t realise how tired I was,” Laura replied as she stepped out onto the balcony and ran a hand through her sleep tousled hair. She planted a kiss on his lips, admiring the sight of him with his still wet hair slicked back and the top of the bathrobe partly open, revealing his perfect chest. He gently pulled her face down to his as the kiss deepened, both of them smiling against the other’s lips.

“Now that’s some greeting Mr Steele,” Laura murmured once they finally drew apart. “Well I figured it was the least I could do after falling asleep on you last night. We do have some unfinished business to attend to after all eh?” he quipped with a cheeky grin as Laura grinned back and flashed him a sultry look, knowing full well what that would do to him. “Indeed we do,” she replied as she sat down opposite him.

Remington sat up a little straighter as he shook his head a little at her cheekiness. “I wasn’t sure how hungry you’d be so I ordered a bit of everything - cereal, eggs, bacon, toast, fruit. And some tea and coffee,” he rattled off as Laura nodded gratefully and poured herself a coffee before tucking into some cereal and fruit for starters.

“So tell me more about yours and Daniel’s exploits during your previous visit here,” Laura stated while they ate.

Remington couldn’t help a wry grin. “Wondered how long it would take you to get round to grilling me about that,” he chuckled. He sat back then said with a sigh, “There’s not much to tell really. Daniel’s plans unfortunately didn’t go quite as well as we would have liked.”

“What happened?” Laura asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Someone beat us to the opals. And they weren’t too happy we were trying to ‘encroach on their turf’ either,” Remington stated matter-of-factly. “Daniel being Daniel though managed to talk us out of a potentially sticky situation, Needless to say we didn’t hang around for long after that.”

“So you’re not wanted by the local authorities then for anything?” Laura checked as she gave him a meaningful look.

“Laura..I’m shocked and appalled that you think so little of me that you would assume I allowed myself to get caught,” he stated with mock indignation that was tempered by the mischievous twinkle in his blue eyes. “Ooh you!” she retorted as she threw a napkin at him which he caught with a laugh.

Once they’d finished breakfast, Laura rang Nic and organized for her to come pick them up in an hour.

“I suppose I should get dressed then,” Remington announced as he went to head towards the wardrobe but Laura blocked his way. “Where do you think you’re going?” she demanded as he looked a little confused. “To get dressed,” he replied as she shook her head.

“Not yet you’re not,” she replied, a cheeky dimpled grin crossing her face as she grabbed the belt of his robe and pulled him to her. “You can’t sit around looking that good in that robe without having to face the consequences,” she breathed as she linked her arms around his neck.

“Oh is that right Mrs Steele? And what consequences might those be eh?” he asked as he wrapped his arms around her waist. “You have to attend to our unfinished business,” Laura replied as she ran a hand through his hair.

“But Laura we need to be ready within in an hour to meet Nicole..” he teased her a little, a lopsided grin spreading across his face.

With that Laura looked at him through her eyelashes and whispered in his ear as she started nibbling on it, “Ever heard of a quickie Rem?”.

He swallowed hard as his grin got a bit wider, “Hmm I think I may have heard of the term – perhaps indulged on occasion.”

“Well how about we stop talking and indulge then,” Laura murmured as her hands went to the belt of his robe. “Well a wise man once told me never to argue with my wife,” Remington chuckled, his voice husky with desire. “Shut up Rem,” Laura laughed as she kissed him very, very thoroughly and as her hand found it’s target, her husband temporarily lost the power of speech…

Somehow they managed to make it out the door within the hour, neither of them able to wipe the satisfied smiles off their faces as they took the elevator down to the lobby. They had just stepped out of the elevator when Laura was practically bowled over by a blonde woman who looked around her age, who enveloped her in a hug. “Lozza!!” she squealed, using her old nickname for her, an ‘Aussie slang’ version of Laura. “Oh it’s so good to see you!”

“Hi Nic! It’s so good to see you too!” Laura replied as she returned the hug just as affectionately.

Remington couldn’t help but grin as he observed their reunion as he mouthed the word “Lozza?” to Laura, raising a curious eyebrow at her. “Nic..I’d like you to meet my husband Remington,” Laura introduced them as Remington went to politely shake her hand, but after picking her jaw up off the floor as she looked at him, Nicole enthusiastically hugged him as well. “Oh I’m very pleased to meet you! Geez Laura you said he was cute but you didn’t say he was gorgeous!” Nicole laughed good naturedly as Remington smiled and replied. “Well thankyou Nicole that’s very kind of you. And I’m very pleased to meet you too. Laura has told me a lot about you and what a good time she had here in Australia during her college years.”

“I bet she didn’t tell you everything hey Laura?” Nicole said with a mischievous grin as she winked at Laura who tried to control the blush that was creeping up her face. “Oh the stories I could tell you Rem – can I call you Rem? Oh and call me Nic by the way – the only person who calls me Nicole is my mother,” she replied.

“Well I’d love to hear those stories Nic,” Remington replied as he grinned at Laura who rolled her eyes in reply. Keen to get the subject of conversation off her, Laura stated firmly, “How about you go check us out of our room Rem?”

“But I was just chatting to Nic about the ‘good ole days’,” he argued but thought better of it when he saw the look in his wife’s eyes.

“Don’t worry there’ll be plenty of time for that Rem,” Nic stated with a promising grin, the two of them enjoying stirring Laura up.

“Am I going to regret introducing the two of you?” Laura said to her friend with a rueful laugh as Remington headed over to the reception desk to check them out of their room.

“Ah come on we’re just joking around. When did you get so serious anyway? Where’s my partner in crime, ‘wild Laura Holt’ gone?” Nic chuckled.

“She grew up,” Laura stated somewhat wryly then added with the hint of a mischievous smile, “But she’s still there underneath – I do let her out on occasion.”

“More often than not with that hot hubby of yours I hope!” Nic giggled and Laura couldn’t help a giggle herself as she nodded and they both stole a glance at him. “Where on earth did you find him?!”

“He just walked into my life one day and the rest is history,” Laura explained, a smile crossing her face as a memory of that fateful day flashed through her mind.

“Does he have a brother?” Nic asked hopefully as Laura shook her head, “Not that I’m aware of.”

“Damn! Lucked out again!”

“Speaking of which – how’s your love life? Are you seeing anyone at the moment?” Laura asked as Nic shook her head. “Oh you know me Laura – footloose and fancy free. Oh there’s been a few guys here and there but I haven’t found ‘the one’ yet. But by the looks of it you certainly have,” she stated with a smile, genuinely happy for her friend.

Laura nodded in confirmation. “Yes I sure have,” she replied, her eyes automatically drawn to the love of her life. “Took me a while to admit it though. We danced around each other for a few years before we finally sorted ourselves out.”

“Well that’s good to hear. Now come on I want details – what’s he like.. you know? As good as he looks?” Nic asked under her breath with a cheeky look, keen to ‘share details’ like they used to in their younger days. Laura returned the look and stated with a dimpled grin, “Better.”

“Okay that’s it - I hate you!” Nic laughed as did Laura, just as Remington walked back over to them.

“All done ladies. What’s so funny?” he asked curiously.

“Oh we were just catching up on old times,” Laura replied quickly as she shot Nic a look to shut her up, then slipping an arm through Remington’s she said, “Where’s your car Nic?”

***********************************

As they drove to Nic’s home in the beachside suburb of Cronulla in Sydney’s south, their conversation turned to the case. “So do you have any idea who might have stolen your research?” Laura asked.

“Well I’ve got some theories but no proof. Some of the big electricity companies aren’t too happy we’ve made this breakthrough with using salt water as an energy source,” Nic replied.

“But how would they have got access to your research? Do you think it might be an inside job?” Remington inquired.

“It’s possible I guess but I find it hard to believe that any of my team would be involved in that. They’re all very committed to preserving the environment - you have to be in our line of work.”

Laura nodded then said, “While I’m sure that’s the case, it’s amazing how a bit of financial incentive can make some people forget their principles.”

Nic sighed, “Yeah I guess that’s true. I’ve got to go into the University later today so maybe you two can tag along and have a look around?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Laura replied as Nic smiled gratefully at her.

“How’s your Dad doing by the way?” Laura asked as Nic’s smile faded a bit. “Not great. The doctor’s are saying he’s only got around six more months, if that. The cancer’s spread from his lungs into his bones.”

“I’m so sorry,” Laura replied as she gave her old friend’s hand a supportive squeeze. “Thanks,” Nic replied with a watery smile. “He asked after you by the way – said to give you his love.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that too Nic. I ah..lost my own father to lung cancer not so long ago. I hope you can make the most of the time you have left with him – I’d have given anything to have some more time with mine,” Remington stated sincerely, an emotional catch in his voice as Laura looked at him with a mixture of love and concern , as she knew he was still grieving Daniel’s death and all the wasted years he had spent looking for his father when he was right next to him all along.

“I’m sorry for your loss Rem and thankyou for your kind words,” Nic replied gratefully then added to Laura, “You’ve got a good one there – he’s a keeper”, Laura smiling as she nodded in agreement.

****************************************

“Wow this is some place!” Laura enthused as they got out of the car after Nic had pulled into the driveway of a modern two-storey house that was only a few doors down from the beach and surrounded by large, shady eucalypt trees. “I’ll say - that’s some view!” Remington agreed as he pushed his sunglasses on top of his head to look down the street at the beach that was packed with swimmers, surfers and sun-bathers.

“Yeah it’s not bad,” Nic replied with classic Aussie understatement. “I made some good investments a few years back and decided to treat myself.” She then showed them inside her spacious home. “Here’s your room – hope it’s okay,” she stated as she showed them into the guest room which had lovely water views framed by a few trees. “More than adequate thankyou,” Remington replied with a smile. “Yes thanks Nic – it’s perfect,” Laura put in.

“Now I’ll let you two settle in – I’ve just got to duck down to the shops to get a few things, so make yourselves at home. Feel free to have a swim in the pool if you like or if you want to hit the beach I’ll give you my spare keys so you can let yourselves back in. “

“Thanks Nic. I don’t know about you Rem but a swim in the pool sounds good to me,” Laura stated as he grinned at the thought of spending some alone time with his wife wearing nothing but a bikini. “That sounds like a brilliant idea Laura,” he enthused. Nic gave them both a meaningful look and bade them farewell with a laugh saying, “I’ll leave you to it then – don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Well that leaves us with a lot of options,” Laura retorted with a laugh of her own as Nic cheekily poked her tongue out at her, the two of them easily falling back into the banter of their younger years. “You’ll keep Lozza – Rem try and keep this wife of yours under control will ya?” Nic chuckled. “Well I’ll try but I can’t promise anything,” he quipped as Laura picked up a cushion off the bed and playfully swatted him with it. Nic shook her head at the two of them then as she went to head downstairs said as an afterthought, “Oh there’s a shower in the downstairs loo – I mean toilet, if you want to have a shower after your swim.”

“Great thanks,” Laura called after her. The two of them wasted no time in getting changed for their swim, Remington delighted that Laura had decided to wear her red bikini, his favorite on her. His eyes travelled over her appreciatively, as hers did to him, enjoying the sight of his long, lean body clad just in a pair of board shorts. “After you Mrs Steele,” he stated in a gentlemanly fashion as he let her walk out of the room before him, taking the opportunity as she walked past to cheekily smack her on the behind as she let out a surprised squeal. “You’re incorrigible Mr Steele,” she chastised him with a dimpled grin. “I know and you love it,” he retorted with a devillish wiggle of his eyebrows as he followed her down the stairs. “Indeed I do,” she replied then added, “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” as she ran out the back door to the pool, diving in before he could catch up with her, even with his long legged stride.

Remington then jumped in and surfaced next to her, spluttering a little as he did so. “You didn’t tell me it was bloody cold Laura!” he groused as she laughed, “Oh come on it’s not that bad - it’s refreshing.”

“Well the least you could do is come here and warm me up,” he pouted a little as he pulled her closer to him. “And how do you suggest I do that?” she asked, her brown eyes full of mischief. “Well a bit of this..,” he murmured as he planted a soft kiss on her lips, “and a bit of that,” as he kissed her again.

“Warming up?” Laura asked between kisses as she ran a hand down his back. “Oh definitely,” he murmured as his hands began wandering a bit as well. And as much as he wanted to continue what they were doing, he felt the need to answer a ‘call of nature.’ In answer to Laura’s questioning look when he reluctantly pulled away from her he explained, “Sorry Laura I know the timing’s not great, but I just need to pay a quick visit to the bathroom - I’ll be back in a flash.”

“You better be,” Laura stated with a meaningful look as Remington grinned at her then hopped out of the pool and wrapped a towel around himself. He found the downstairs bathroom and was just about to open the door when he heard a male voice singing from inside the room,“ _I come from a land Down Under, where women glow and men plunder_..” and the shower being turned off. Wondering if there was an intruder in the house, but also wondering why he’d be taking a shower, Remington clenched a fist as he flung open the door to find the epitome of the stereotypical ‘bronzed Aussie’, a tall, blonde, tanned fellow, standing there with a towel wrapped round his lower half and his fist clenched as well.

“Who the bloody hell are you?!” both men yelled at each other, their fists raised. “What are you doing in the shower?” Remington demanded. “Well what are you doing in my sister’s house?” the other man threw back at him, a frown clouding his handsome features. “Sister? Nic’s your sister?” Remington asked, somewhat dumbfounded.

“Yeah she’s my sister. I’m..”

“Craig!” Laura filled in for him as she came inside after hearing the commotion, trying to hide her grin at the sight of two rather good looking men, one of whom happened to be her husband, standing in front of her half naked.

The blonde guy looked at her in surprise and then a smile of recognition crossed his face. “Laura? Laura Holt? Nic told me you were flying in but I didn’t know you’d arrived already,” he said as he caught her up in a big hug, much to Remington’s chagrin, not entirely comfortable at the sight of his wife who was wearing a rather revealing bikini, being hugged by a half-naked man wearing nothing but a towel.

“Well it’s Laura Steele now – this is my husband Remington,” Laura introduced them, after she’d extricated herself from Craig’s enthusiastic hug. A muscle working in his cheek, Remington extended his hand to the other man. “Pleased to meet you Craig – ah sorry for the misunderstanding.”

“No worries mate – it’s all good. Sorry I gave you a bit of a shock too – I’ve just been for a surf down the beach and ducked in to have a shower,” Craig replied with a broad smile, both of them gripping the other’s hand a bit harder than was necessary. “Pleased to meet you too. What sort of a name is Remington though? Sounds like a bloody shaver or something,” he laughed as Remington looked quite perturbed.

“Well I’m rather fond of the name myself and the person who gave it to me,” he retorted in a clipped tone as he shot Laura a sidewards glance.

Craig however didn’t notice as his attention was focused on Laura. “You’re looking good Laura,” he remarked with a grin as she tried not to blush which did not go unnoticed by her husband. “Um thankyou Craig,” she replied hurriedly. He then looked at Remington and said, “So you’re the lucky bloke that finally got her hey?”

“Yes I most definitely am,” Remington replied, his jaw clenching a little as he put an arm around her, almost possessively.

“Well good for you. You’re a luckier man than I – she broke my heart,” Craig stated with a dramatic grin as he thumped his broad chest for effect and Laura looked decidedly uncomfortable.

“Oh did she now? Do tell Laura,” Remington said as he raised an expectant eyebrow at her.

“Oh Craig stop mucking around – it was just a little holiday fling,” she retorted, as both men looked at her.

“I see,” Remington stated, trying to quell the very strong niggle of jealousy he was feeling. “Yeah but what a fling hey?” Craig replied with a cheeky grin not unlike his sister’s.

In an effort to change the subject as she could feel Remington bristling next to her, she then asked Craig, “So how are you anyway? What are you up to these days?”

“Can’t complain I guess. I got married a while back but it didn’t work out - me and me missus split up last year. Oh and I’ve got a son Josh - he’s a great kid. He’s just turned four. I started up my own business too – I’m a sparkie,” Craig informed them as both Laura and Remington looked at him somewhat puzzled.

“Sparkie?” Remington asked. “Oh sorry - it’s what we call electricians over here,” Craig explained.

“And Nic tells me you’re some hot shot detective Laura? Wow that’s pretty impressive.”

“Thanks – we’re both detectives actually,” Laura replied.

“Oh that’s cool. So how did a Pommie end up in LA?” Craig asked Remington.

“Well for starters I’m not actually English – I’m Irish by birth. And my work, before I met Laura took me all round the world,” Remington stated, not elaborating on what that ‘work’ had been.

Just then the front door opened and Nicole walked in. “Oh hi Craig – dropped in for a shower after your surf did you?” she greeted her brother. “I see you’ve got reacquainted with Laura and met her husband Rem.”

“Yeah we were just having a bit of a chinwag. Rem here thought I was an intruder and I thought he was one as well – funny huh?” Craig replied, exchanging a glance with Remington who put in, “Oh yes it was hilarious,”, forcing a grin onto his face as he thought to himself that Craig was indeed ‘intruding’ on the time he was spending with Laura, and wondering just how ‘involved’ his wife had been with this fellow in their younger years…


	5. Chapter 5

After Craig had gone home, Nic suggested they head into the University, sensing a bit of tension between Laura and Remington and hoping focusing on the case together would help clear the air between them. When Laura popped upstairs to grab her handbag, Nic took the chance to have a word to her friend’s husband. “I hope my stupid brother hasn’t caused any trouble between you and Laura,” she said with a warm smile.

“Oh no, no, no,” Remington assured her as he forced a smile onto his face, not being entirely truthful.

“Well I hope that’s the case. I love my brother but he can be a bit of a dickhead sometimes,” Nic laughed as she gave him a meaningful look.

Any further conversation on the topic was halted when Laura came back downstairs. “Ready to go?” she asked with a smile as Remington and Nic both nodded. “After you ladies,” Remington said as he opened the front door for them, hoping the rest of the day wasn’t going to be quite so eventful.

*********************************************

As Nic drove into the University campus which was near the city, she and Laura chatted. Remington however was somewhat uncharacteristically quiet as he chewed on a fingernail, their earlier encounter with Laura’s former ‘fling’ still gnawing away at him a bit.

Once they reached the campus Nic made her way to the staff carpark then led them up to the main quadrangle with it’s rather imposing Victorian Gothic architectural design. “Oh I remember walking up to the Quad my first day here and feeling a bit overwhelmed. I was in a whole new country and didn’t know a soul,” Laura reminisced then added with a smile, “Then I got introduced to my roommate here and that all changed.”

“Well these buildings at least haven’t changed much since then – a lot of the others have though,” Nic informed them as she led them through the entrance then walked past the Great Hall, passing a few students on their way.

“Oh to think that was us eleven years ago – now I really feel old,” Laura laughed.

“Wonder if they get up to as much mischief as we did hey?” Nic replied with a conspiratorial wink as Remington looked at Laura, thinking to himself he didn’t know how much more of her former ‘exploits’ he wanted to know about it.

A muscle worked in his cheek as he tried to put such thoughts out of his head and concentrate on the case. They soon reached the Marine Biology faculty rooms, Nic introducing them to the members of her team who were there - Dianne, an associate professor and Mark, a post-grad student who worked part-time in the department whilst completing his PhD.

“So where exactly was the research being kept before it went missing?” Laura asked. “We had hard copy files in these filing cabinets here,” Nic pointed out. “And we had some stuff on floppy disks as well – we keep them here,” Dianne added as she opened a drawer.

“And when did you notice them gone?” Remington asked as he inspected the filing cabinet for signs of forced entry but couldn’t see any obvious signs.

“It would have been about a week ago – I came in early one morning and when I went to pull out some of the research to do some more work on it I discovered it was gone,” Mark explained.

“Did campus security see anything suspicious – anyone lurking around the rooms who shouldn’t have been there for example?” Laura inquired.

“’Fraid not,” Nic replied with frustration. “I just don’t understand who would do this or how.”

“Don’t worry Nic – we’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise,” Remington reassured her as Laura nodded in agreement, hoping he was right. The absence of obvious clues or suspects was going to make this case a bit harder to crack than she had initially thought.

Later on that evening….

“You were awfully quiet this afternoon,” Laura remarked when they were finally alone in the guest room back at Nic’s house.

“Was I?” Remington retorted, his jaw clenched a little as he busied himself getting his toiletries bag out of his luggage.

Laura sighed as she sat down on the bed. “Okay let’s have it.”

Pretending not to know what she was talking about he asked, “Let’s have what?”

“You’re upset that I had a fling with Craig all those years ago aren’t you?”

“I’m not upset that you had a fling with him Laura – what I’m upset about is that you conveniently forgot to tell me about it,” Remington replied in a clipped tone.

Laura rolled her eyes a little. “I didn’t tell you about it because I didn’t think it mattered – it was a brief holiday romance that happened more than a decade ago. To tell you the truth I didn’t even think of the possibility of bumping into him while we here.”

“He’s your friend’s brother Laura,” Remington pointed out with somewhat of a pout. “How could you have not thought you might bump into him?”

Laura ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “Because I didn’t think it would be such an issue for you Rem – I’m surprised he even remembered me,” she stated in exasperation.

“Well ‘Crocodile Dundee’ seems to have quite a good memory and seems quite keen to renew your acquaintance!” Remington threw back at her with a good deal of sarcasm.

“His name is Craig!” Laura snapped back, her anger rising to meet his.

“Well what sort of a name is that anyway? Sounds like a rock face or something! And he has the hide to laugh at my name!” Remington stated derisively.

“You’re impossible - you know that!” Laura muttered with a shake of her head, frustrated by his jealousy.

“I’m impossible?? I’m not the one who was in the shower singing about how he ‘comes from the land Down Under where women glow and men plunder’! Speaking of which – just how involved were you?” Remington demanded, his jaw clenched.

“I’m not even going to dignify that question with a response!” Laura replied furiously. “Do I ask you about what you did with all your former romantic interests?”  
  


“Well no, but..” he went to argue but Laura cut him off.

“But what Rem? Why do you need to know? I’ve got a past just as you have. You weren’t as concerned as this when you met Wilson, and I lived with him!”

“Well things were different then,” Remington replied, looking slightly uncomfortable.

“How so?” Laura demanded.

“Well you weren’t my wife then,” he pointed out.

“Oh so now I’m your ‘property’ or something like that huh?” Laura whirled on him as she advanced towards him and poked a finger into his chest. “I can’t believe you’d have such a chauvinistic, outdated attitude like that!” she exploded.

Remington put his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Laura – that’s not what I meant at all and you know that! Do you really think I would regard you like that?” he asked, an affronted look on his face.

Seeing the expression on his face Laura sighed, the wind taken out of her sails somewhat as she realised he was right. “No,” she conceded. “But I still don’t understand why you are so upset that I didn’t tell you about Craig. Surely you don’t think I’m still interested in him?”

“Well no.. ,” Remington replied, trying to quieten the voice of the scared, unloved little boy that still dwelt deep with him. “But I can’t say the same thing about him. I mean the bloke has split up from his wife so he’s a free agent - what’s to say he’s not going to try and have another crack eh?”

Laura gave him a reassuring smile. “Well I think I made it clear that I’m officially off the market now so I don’t think he’ll be ‘having another crack’ as you put it. He may have come on a bit strong today but he’s not a bad guy Rem. And I’m not a 20 year old college girl anymore – I’m a married woman who loves her husband very much,” she stated as she decided to show him as well as tell him.

She brought her lips to his, kissing his fears away as he responded enthusiastically to her, their passion stirred by their argument, as was often the case with them. “You are cute when you’re jealous you know – frustrating, but cute,” Laura murmured against his lips. “I wasn’t jealous,” he pouted a little as she couldn’t help but laugh, “Sure you weren’t.”

Remington went to kiss her again but as he did so he spied something on the wall near the bedroom window.. a very large something. “What the bloody hell is that?!” he practically yelped as he pointed to it. Laura looked to where he was pointing and while the sight did take her aback a little, she did recall encountering one in her previous visit Down Under.

“Relax Mr Steele – It’s just a spider,” she stated with a dimpled grin.

“JUST a spider? Laura, that thing is big enough to own property!” Remington retorted as he looked around in a panic for something to hit it with.

“Must you always be so dramatic?” Laura countered with a roll of her eyes.

“Only when I find myself in a country that’s trying to kill me!” Remington stated emphatically as he took a few steps back from it. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to come to this God forsaken place!” he added as he shook his head.

Laura tried to stifle a laugh at his over the top reaction as she tried to calm him down. “Rem it’s just a Huntsman spider – they might look big and scarey but they’re harmless. I must admit it freaked me out as well the first time I saw one when I was first here - although not quite as much as you are,” she teased him gently as he shot her a withering look.

“Well harmless or not I don’t want it in our bedroom Laura!” he stated adamantly as he went to grab a shoe but Laura grabbed him by the arm to stop him. “Hang on – rather than squishing it I can try and put it back outside. It’s probably crawled in somehow from those trees.”

Remington looked at her dubiously as she dashed to the bathroom and grabbed a glass and then grabbed a sheet of paper from her notepad. She approached the spider slowly so as not to startle it (or Mr Steele!) then quickly put the glass over it and pushed it in the direction of the window. She then slid the paper under the glass, effectively trapping the spider inside, as Remington watched on from a safe distance. “Don’t drop it Laura whatever you do!” he urged her. “Relax - I’m not going to drop it Rem until I get it outside,” she reassured him.

She then carefully held the glass out the window near an overhanging branch of the tree then took the paper away so the spider fell onto the branch before scurrying away. Laura firmly shut the window before announcing, “See – crisis averted.”

“Well thank God for that!” Remington exclaimed dramatically as Laura couldn’t help but smile at him.

“You have no problem facing off against dangerous criminals but you’re afraid of a spider,” she said with a chuckle as she shook her head at him and Remington looked a little perturbed. “Well I can’t bloody well punch a spider can I?” he pointed out. “And while that type may not be able to kill you there’s plenty of other animals here that can!” he added.

“Come on Mr Steele – where’s your sense of adventure?” Laura laughed.

“I think I left it back in Los Angeles,” he quipped dryly.

“I guess I’ll just have to take your mind off things then won’t I Mr Steele?” Laura asked, her tone husky as she came up to him and linked her arms around his neck. A rueful grin spread across Remington’s face as he found himself relaxing a bit, his wife’s distraction techniques working rather well.

“Well as long as you can assure me there’s no more creepy crawlies in here - I may need quite a bit of distracting though Mrs Steele,” he stated as he raised a challenging eyebrow at her. Never one to back down from a challenge though Laura replied with a dimpled grin, “Well I think I can do that – now where were we before we were interrupted by the local wildlife?”

“Hmm about here I think,” Remington murmured as he brought his lips to hers, the two of them soon forgetting about spiders or former romantic interests or anything else except each other…


	6. Chapter 6

When Laura and Remington came down for breakfast the next morning they found Nic already in the kitchen. “Morning folks – how did you sleep?” she asked with a smile, hoping they’d been able to sort things out from the previous day. “Good thanks,” Laura replied as she couldn’t help the hint of a grin crossing her face. “Yes well it was good once we got rid of an unwanted visitor,” Remington put in with a slight pout.

In reply to Nic’s questioning look Laura explained with a laugh, “There was a huntsman in our room - so I – there was no ‘we’ Rem - managed to move it out the window.” Remington shot her a withering look and muttered, “It was huge!” as Nic tried to stifle a laugh. “Oh sorry about that – they sometimes sneak in from the trees. They’re big buggers but they’re harmless.”

She then paused and asked, “Other than that though – everything alright?”. She couldn’t help but overhear them arguing as well the night before which concerned her a little.

“Everything’s fine thanks Nic,” Laura reassured her with a wry smile. “We do argue on occasion but that’s just us. We’re good.” Remington nodded in agreement as he put an arm around his wife. “And making up is always fun,” he quipped cheekily as Laura rolled her eyes at him and elbowed him in the side, although she had to admit she did agree.

“Well that’s good to hear,” Nic replied with a relieved smile. “Now what do you fancy for breakfast? I’ve got cereal, toast, tea, coffee, juice? Or I can cook up some bacon & eggs if you like?”

“Oh don’t go to too much trouble Nic - coffee and some cereal is fine for me,” Laura stated. “I’ll just grab some toast and a cup of tea if I could thanks,” Remington added with a smile.

Nic nodded and started preparing breakfast for them all. “Here’s your toast Rem - now what would you like with it? Jam, honey, some Vegemite perhaps?”

“Hmm – well I never had the chance to sample your national spread the last time I was here, so I think I might give it a try now,” he replied as he reached for the Vegemite.

“You sure? It’s a bit of an acquired taste,” Nic warned him as she shared an amused look with Laura, who unlike her husband, had sampled it before.

“Of course Nic. I like to think myself as something of a connoisseur of food from around the world,” Remington smiled as he lathered it on his toast quite thickly.

“Ah you might want to go easy there Rem,” Laura commented as he shook his head. “Nonsense Laura – to really get a taste for something you have to try a decent amount,” he retorted as the two women tried to suppress their grins. “Oh you’re gonna taste it alright,” Nic stated with a chuckle as he took a bite of his toast and immediately looked like he was going to gag. As he tried to chew it quickly so he could swallow it faster, Laura couldn’t help herself anymore and dissolved into laughter at the expression on his face. “I did try to warn you!” she giggled as he started coughing then grabbed a napkin and ended up spitting the piece of toast out.

“Bloody hell! How do you Australians eat that?! That tastes and looks like salty tar!” Remington exclaimed in disgust as he wiped his mouth and downed his tea practically in one gulp to get the taste of the Vegemite out of his mouth.

Once Nic had stopped laughing she replied, “The trick to it is to not spread it too thick and it helps if you have it with a bit of butter as well. You might want to remember that for next time.”

“Next time?! There’s not bloody well going to be a next time!” he assured her.

“Ah I think I’ll just have some jam thanks Nic,” Laura put in with a dimpled grin. “If it’s any consolation Rem I had the same reaction the first time I tried it too.”

“Suit yourselves – you don’t know what you’re missing,” Nic replied as she proceeded to spread a thin layer of the Vegemite on her own toast.

The three of them continued their breakfast, chatting about the case as they did so. The phone interrupted their conversation after a short while. Nic went and answered it, a worried frown crossing her face as she greeted the caller and listened to what they had to say. “What? When? Was anyone hurt? Well thank God for that. Yes looks like we’ll have to head up there and check things out. Okay leave it with me – I’ll be in touch.”

Laura and Remington exchanged a concerned look as they listed to the conversation. “Everything alright?” Remington asked as Nic rejoined them at the table. She shook her head. “No I’m afraid not. That was one of my Queensland colleagues on the phone - our research pontoon on the Great Barrier Reef has been damaged and it looks like sabotage,” she stated seriously. “Some of the moorings were deliberately cut by the looks of things – it’s lucky the whole pontoon didn’t sink and no-one was hurt.”

“Looks like someone really doesn’t want your research going ahead,” Laura commented. Nic nodded in agreement as she ran a hand anxiously though her hair. “I really need to get up there and see what can be salvaged and try and get to the bottom of this. How do you two fancy a trip to Queensland?”

*******************************************************

As they were unable to get a direct flight to Hamilton Island (from where they would get a launch out to the Reef) for a couple of days, they flew into Brisbane the next day so they’d be part of the way there at least. Once they’d landed at Brisbane airport, the three of them hired a car and drove out to Nic’s parents’ house in an outer suburb of the Queensland capital.

Laura was glad to see Nic’s parents again who had made her feel right at home when she had first met them all those years ago, especially given the state of Nic’s father’s health. “There she is! Laura dear – you don’t look a day older than you did when we first met you,” Nic’s mother Jean greeted her fondly as they got out of the car and she walked out of the house to greet them.

“Thankyou Mrs Williams – you’re too kind,” Laura replied with a smile as she hugged her. “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Jean,” Nic’s mother laughed then she turned her gaze to the handsome man at Laura’s side. “And you must be Laura’s hubby hey? Well you’re a handsome son of a devil aren’t you?” she said with a laugh then added with a cheeky wink to Laura, “Just as well I’m not twenty years younger luv.”

“Pleased to meet you Mrs Williams – I’m Remington,” he flashed her a smile, then laying on the charm he took her hand and kissed it which left her giggling like a school girl as a dimpled smile crossed Laura’s face – no woman seemed immune to his charm, regardless of their age, she mused to herself.

“Well if your wife won’t call me Jean I hope you will,” she replied with a broad smile as Remington nodded, then Nic put in with a laugh as she gave her mother a peck on the cheek, “Hi Mum – I’m here too you know.”

“Well of course you are luv but I can see you anytime,” Jean retorted as she showed them inside the house. They found Nic’s father, Bob in the living room watching a horse race on the tv. Despite his frail health he greeted them all cheerfully – giving his daughter and Laura affectionate hugs and shaking Remington’s hand as they were introduced. “Good to see you’ve settled down and got married Laura – perhaps NIcci here could take a leaf out of your book hey?” he laughed good naturedly. “Dad!” Nic protested as she grinned ruefully, “You know I don’t want to be tied down to just one fella.”

“So you’re looking after our girl here I hope mate?” Bob then said to Remington as he regarded the younger man, a paternal tone to his voice. “Trying to as much as she’ll let me Bob,” Remington replied with a chuckle as Laura shot him a withering look. Nic’s father laughed at that as he nodded. “Sounds like my missus and daughter,” then he added, “Jean how about you get Remington here a beer? Have a seat mate.”

Remington thanked him and sat down as did Laura and Nic. “You’re a fan of the fillies eh Bob?” Remington commented as he nodded towards the tv. Bob nodded and replied, “Yeah I don’t mind a flutter every now and again. Used to love going out to Doomben and Eagle Farm races to watch them live but since I got crook I’ve been limited to watching them on the telly. How about you mate – are you a betting man?”

Remington and Laura exchanged a glance as a lopsided grin crossed his face. “Oh every now and again,” he quipped with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Bob laughed at that but as his breath caught in his throat his laugh quickly turned into a hacking cough.

“Are you right Dad?” Nic asked with concern as she went to get up to go to him but he waved her off. “I’m alright sweetheart. I don’t need you fussing over me like your mother,” he replied firmly. Laura caught the somewhat pained expression that momentarily crossed Remington’s face as he was reminded of his own father Daniel and the last few days he had spent with him, when he had been suffering with a similar cough. She gave him an encouraging smile as he flashed her a grateful smile in her return.

At the look on his daughter’s face, Bob relented a little. “Sorry luv I know you’re only trying to help. I should be thankful at least one of my children cares about me,” he stated as he shook his head.

“Dad – Craig cares about you, you know that,” Nic argued.

“Do I? Could have fooled me - I’m lucky to get a phone call from him. And yet here you are up to visit me twice in one week. Anyway, enough about your brother – I don’t want to get cranky when we’ve got guests. Pass me the newspaper there Nicci – I want to have a look at the form guide. Rem mate come here and let me know what you think of these odds,” Bob urged him.

Happy to help out, Remington got up and went over to Bob who was flicking through the newspaper in order to find the form guide. “Get a load of these toffs will ya? All those energy company big wigs having their convention thingy at the Tattler’s Club,” Bob commented as an article caught his eye as he flicked through the newspaper.

“What did you say Dad?” Nic’s ears suddenly pricked up as Laura and Remington both looked at her curiously. Nic jumped up and went and grabbed the newspaper off her father. “Hey I was reading that!” he protested.

“Don’t get your knickers in a knot Dad, I’ll give it back in a sec,” she replied as she scanned the article he’d been looking at.

“What is it Nic?” Laura asked, recognizing the look on her friend’s face that meant she was concocting something.

“As Dad said, it looks like there’s an energy company convention being held at the Tattersall’s Club in Brisbane this week and they’re having their gala dinner tonight. All their top execs are there by the looks of this photo,” Nic explained.

“Do you think any of them might be behind your research going missing and the sabotage to the pontoon?” Remington asked as he raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Well I don’t know for sure but it wouldn’t hurt to try and find out and what better way than communing with the enemy?” Nic replied with a grin. “It’s usually a men’s only club but it says here in the article that the execs’ wives and partners will be accompanying them to the dinner tonight – that’s sure to disappoint a few of those blokes who’d rather be having a bit on the side while they’re at these conventions,” she continued with a hint of derision.

“Sounds like we’ve got a fishing expedition ahead of us eh ladies?” Remington said with a grin to Laura and Nic. At that Nic hesitated then stated, “Well as much as I’d like to accompany you to try and nail one of those bastards, I suspect one or more of them may recognize me and wonder what I’m doing there – that might look a bit suspicious. But you two wouldn’t have any trouble with that hey?”

“No indeed we wouldn’t,” Laura replied with a gleam in her brown eyes, excited at the prospect of going undercover - it was one of her favorite parts of their work as detectives. “What do you say to a bit of undercover work Mr Steele?”

“I’d say that sounds like something right up our alley Mrs Steele,” Remington replied with a grin.

“Thanks guys – I really appreciate it. I can fill you in on who’s who and give you some background info so you can appear credible. Now we just have to figure out how to get you an invite,” Nic said.

“Leave that to us,” Remington reassured her with a smile as Laura nodded.

“Oh I don’t envy you mate having to get all dressed up in some monkey suit to go to that fancy shindig,” Bob commented with a grin. Remington grinned back and replied as he looked at Laura, “Oh don’t worry Bob - we do fancy rather well.”

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	7. Chapter 7

Early that evening, Nic dropped Laura and Remington off not far from the Tattersall’s Club in the heart of the city. “So have you figured out how you’re going to get into the convention dinner?” she asked them as she found a parking spot. “We’ve got a plan,” Laura replied with a twinkle in her eye as Remington nodded and said as he fiddled with his bow tie, “Yes well let’s just hope it works eh?”

Nic wished them good luck and thanked them for their help. Remington then hopped out of the car and extending a hand to Laura, helped her out as well. She smoothed down the fabric of her red gown then took his offered arm as they waved goodbye to Nic then walked up the street to the club.

“Showtime Mrs Steele,” Remington stated with a toothy grin as they both put their ‘game faces’ on and headed inside. They quickly found the convention registration desk and saw a young woman sitting behind it. “Time to work your magic Mr Steele,” Laura said under her breath as she nodded towards the woman and gave him a meaningful look. “Well a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do,” he quipped as he cocked a mischievous eyebrow at her. He walked up to the desk as Laura took her compact out of her handbag and made out as if she was checking her makeup.

“G’day luv how’s it going?” he greeted the young woman with a passable Aussie accent, trying not to lay it on too thick. She looked up at him and almost did a double take at the sight of the very handsome man decked out in a tux standing before her. She finally found her voice then replied, “Um..good thanks. How can I help you sir?”

Remington flashed her his most charming smile. “Well I have a bit of a problem. See my missus and I,” he said as he jerked his thumb in Laura’s direction, :”had our flight delayed from the States yesterday and we just got into Brissy this afternoon so I haven’t had a chance to register for the conference yet. And we’re both so looking forward to the gala dinner because between you and me luv, we’re hanging out for a decent bit of tucker after all that airline food.”

“Oh that’s no problem - you can register now if you like and I can give you your delegate lanyard which has your name tag on it, and your wife’s guest pass for the dinner. What was your name sir?”

“Thank you so much, that’s a big help. The name’s Blaine, Richard Blaine,” he rattled off as he caught Laura’s eye and surreptitiously crossed his fingers behind his back.

As the woman scanned the convention delegate list a slight frown crossed her face as she couldn’t see the name the gentleman standing before her had given her. On cue Laura came up to Remington and in an exaggerated New York accent said dramatically, “Richie honey is there a problem? I’m starving!”

“Everything’s fine sweetheart – this lovely young lady is looking after things for us,” Remington replied with a smile.

“Um I’m sorry sir but I can’t find your name on the delegate list,” the young woman said a little nervously as she scanned it again as both Remington and Laura looked at her in feigned surprise.

“Well there must be some mistake – my secretary registered me weeks ago when she booked our flights and accommodation. Are you sure I’m not on the list – Richard Blaine, CEO of Blue Steele Energy?” Remington stated.

“I’m sorry sir but there’s no Richard Blaine or Blue Steele Energy on the list,” she apologized. With that Laura lifted her ‘performance’ into top gear. “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me?! I told you coming all this way was a waste of time. Now I’m all dressed up with nowhere to go and nothing to eat!! Well don’t just stand there honey - do something about it!” she demanded, her voice escalating as Remington tried to hide a grin.

“Now just calm down pookie – I’m sure we can get this sorted..,” he tried to placate her but she cut him off.

“Don’t tell me to calm down! I came here for you may I remind you– so you could expand your operations ‘Down Under’! Why you can’t throw your money around in the U.S. is beyond me! And don’t call me pookie!” she retorted heatedly, playing her part to perfection, as the poor woman behind the desk looked very uncomfortable.

“Now just hang on a bloody minute Laura – don’t go getting your knickers in a twist! We’ve been over this a hundred times – Australia is where the best opportunities are nowadays when it comes to investing in the energy industry,” Remington argued just as loudly, just as an officious looking, middle-aged man came up to them, after hearing the ruckus they were causing. His interest had also been piqued when he heard the couple talking about investing in the energy sector.

“What seems to be the problem here folks?” he asked as he plastered a smile onto his face.

“The problem mate is that I registered for this convention but for some reason I don’t seem to be on the delegate list. My wife and I have come all the way from our home in New York to be here, so we could explore some new investment opportunities, but it looks like we’ve wasted our time,” Remington muttered in pretend frustration. “And my wife here has got herself all dolled up for nothing. I convinced her to come home to Aus with me for this convention but it certainly doesn’t seem to be going to plan.”

“You can say that again!” Laura put in for effect. “Do you know how long I took getting ready for this?” she demanded of the man standing in front of them, who both she and Remington recognized as one of the men from the picture that had accompanied the article Nic’s father had found in the newspaper earlier that day.

“Please accept my apologies Mr & Mrs..?” the man went to apologise.

“Blaine – Richard and Laura Blaine,” Remington replied.

“Pleased to meet you Richard – I’m John Thompson, the Chairman of the Australian Energy Executives Council and the CEO of Great Southern Electricity, but my mates call me Thommo. And Laura I’m very pleased to meet you too - and may I say you look absolutely stunning, worth every minute you took getting ready,” the man introduced himself, leering a little at Laura as she tried not to roll her eyes and instead forced a smile onto her face and Remington tried not to bristle too much. “Steady there mate – she’s taken you know,” he commented with a laugh but his expression was deadly serious.

“Well you’re a lucky man there Richo,” ‘Thommo’ replied in an over familiar fashion as he winked at ‘Richard’ who forced a smile onto his face.

“Now I’m sure we can sort out this mix up with your registration - Kylie be a good girl and do up a lanyard for Mr Blaine here and a guest pass for his lovely wife. Now how about you tell me a bit more about this company of yours mate and how much you’re looking to invest hey,” he stated as he clapped Remington around the shoulder.

Once they got the lanyard and guest pass they thanked Kylie then Thompson showed them into the art deco style ballroom where the convention dinner was being held. “I’ve got a few spare seats at my table as it turns out, so come this way,” he beckoned them towards the front of the crowded room.

Once they were seated he introduced them to the other delegates and their wives and partners who were sitting around the table, many of them clamouring for the attractive (and cashed up , or so they’d been led to believe) couple’s attention.

“So Blaine, Thommo here said you’re looking to invest some money hey? I’ve got a pretty sweet deal if you’re interested – I’m looking for some capital at the moment to finance my company’s expansion,” one of the men said to Remington while they ate. He smiled and nodded, feigning interest. “Well I’m always interested in a sweet deal mate. Maybe you can confirm for me though if a rumour I’ve heard is true – I like to do thorough research before I commit myself to anything,” Remington replied.

“That’s fair enough – what have you heard mate?” the other man asked.

“Well I heard some bunch of marine scientists at the University of Sydney have been looking at a way to convert ocean water into energy – that’s not for real is it? I mean if they’re successful what would that mean for us traditional energy providers eh?” Remington stated as he carefully watched the other man to gauge his reaction.

It was John Thompson though who replied as he overheard their conversation, “Don’t you worry about those bloody scientists Richo - they’re full of hype. Somehow I don’t think they’re gonna be successful,” a smirk crossing his face. Remington subtly nudged Laura who was sitting next to him, conversing with Mrs Thompson, to get her attention. “Well that’s good to hear - how can you be so sure though?” Remington posed the question. “A little thing called insurance mate,” the other man replied cryptically as Remington raised a curious eyebrow at him, a strong suspicion forming in both his and Laura’s mind. Remington was just about to press him further to get some more information when a rather large man came up to Thompson. “Sorry I’m late boss – just had a few loose ends to tie up,” Remington & Laura heard him say as he sat down in a spare seat.

“Richard and Laura Blaine – this is an..ah..associate of mine, Col Smith,” Thompson introduced them and as Remington looked at the man he thought he recognised something vaguely familiar. He wasn’t the only one – Col narrowed his eyes at him then said, “G’day mate – have we met before? You look kind of familiar - your name sounds familiar too.”

Alarm bells started going off in both Remington and Laura’s heads. Remington forced a grin onto his face and replied seemingly nonchalantly, “No I don’t believe we have. I guess I have that sort of face and what’s in a name eh?”

Col didn’t look at all convinced though, so in an effort to change the subject, Laura grabbed Remington’s face in her hands and gushed, “And what a gorgeous face it is! Isn’t that right honey bun?” as she planted a rather passionate kiss on his lips, as their table mates clapped and wolf-whistled. “Oh you’ve got a wild one there mate!” Thompson chuckled with more than a hint of envy as Remington forced a grin onto his face, playing along, “Oh indeed I do – I’m a lucky man!”. With that Laura giggled, continuing to play the part, and ran a hand through his hair, then making out as if she were nibbling on his ear whispered, “Who is that guy and how does he know you?”

Remington went to nuzzle her neck as he whispered back, “Remember the opals I told you about? I think from memory he may have been one of the chaps who beat Daniel and I to them.”

“Oh great,” Laura sighed as they finally pulled away from each other.

“You two should get a room,” Thompson stated crudely with a lascvicious grin as his wife, a fairly attractive woman who looked to be in her late forties/early fifties, chided him, “Oh leave them be John – remember us when we were that age?”

“Well Richie and I are on our belated honeymoon,” Laura informed them with a dimpled grin as she snuggled into Remington who grinned in reply and put an arm around her. “That’s right pookie,” he replied cheekily as he tweaked her nose. Laura muttered under her breath between clenched teeth as she continued to grin, “I told you not to call me pookie!”

Just then the band starting playing and people started filling the dancefloor. “Richo – you don’t mind if I steal your lovely wife away for a dance do you?” Thompson asked as Remington thought to himself, ‘I most certainly do mind.’ When he hesitated for a moment before replying, Thompson added, “Promise I’ll bring her back mate. Maybe you could take my missus for a whirl around the dance floor at the same time hey?”

“Sure why not?” Remington replied, a tell-tale muscle working in his cheek as he exchanged a quick glance with Laura to make sure she was okay with that. She subtly nodded, deciding they should play along in an attempt to get some more information that might be relevant for the case.

“Come on then Richard,” Thompson’s wife Cheryl enthused as she grabbed Remington by the hand and practically dragged him onto the dancefloor.

“So are you and your husband based in Brisbane Mrs Thompson?” Remington asked as he danced with Cheryl. She shook her head. “No we live in Toorak in Melbourne and please call me Cheryl – Mrs Thompson makes me sound so old! We’ve been here in Brisbane for the past week - John wanted to come up here a bit before the convention started because he had something or other to do out on the Great Barrier Reef.”

Remington tried to keep his expression neutral as he inquired further. “Oh really Cheryl? Anything interesting?”

“Oh I don’t get involved in John’s work – I just spend his money,” she replied with a laugh as Remington chuckled in reply and forced a smile onto his face.

“Actually my husband and I have an understanding,” she went on as she gave Remington/Richard a meaningful look and tried to move a bit closer to him, as in return he tried to keep her at a respectable distance.

Making out as if he didn’t know what she was talking about, Remington raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh..how so?” he asked as she flashed him what he presumed she thought was a seductive smile and ran a hand over his shoulder.

“Well..he has his how shall we say, ‘extra curricular’ activities and I have mine,” she replied as Remington looked rather uncomfortable, suspecting that she had set her sights on him to be her next ‘extra-curricular’ activity. He cleared his throat a little nervously. “Ah I see. Well my wife and I prefer our ‘activities’ to be very much confined to the curriculum,” he informed Cheryl who looked rather disappointed. “Oh well – suit yourself. Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she stated wryly, then added hopefully, “But if you change your mind you know where to find me.”

Turning her down politely but firmly he replied, “Well Cheryl I’m flattered but I can assure you I’m not going to change my mind – I’m strictly a one woman man,” his gaze drifting to that very woman as she danced with Cheryl’s husband. And as he observed Thommo getting a bit ‘handsy’ with Laura, his blue eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. “Now if you’ll excuse me Cheryl – I think it’s time we got back to our respective other halves eh?” as he thanked her for the dance then made his way through the crowded dancefloor towards Laura.

Laura meantime had been trying to get some information out of Mr Thompson, and like her husband had been trying to keep her dance partner at arms-length. “So how did a New York gal like yourself end up with an Aussie bloke?” Thomson asked, trying to make conversation. Not that he was really interested in how she met her husband – he was more interested in getting her away from him. Thinking fast on her feet Laura replied, “Well we found ourselves working at the same place and he ended up becoming my boss in a manner of speaking.”

“Oh so you married your boss hey? Smart girl,” he replied rather condescendingly as Laura fought to control her expression as she thought to herself, “You have no idea how smart you chauvinistic jerk!”.

“Well a girl’s gotta look after herself hey?” she laughed, laying the fake accent on pretty thick.

“Oh indeed,” he agreed as he tried to pull her closer to him but Laura stood her ground. “You know if your husband’s looking to do business here it doesn’t hurt to be on good terms with his potential investors. I myself always like to have close, personal relationships with my business associates,” Thomson stated as he winked at her and held her a bit more firmly, making his meaning very clear.

Ignoring his clumsy attempt at flirting with her Laura prattled on, “Well I hope this trip of ours isn’t just going to be about business – I prefer mixing business with pleasure.” At that Thomson’s eyes lit up and a lewd grin crossed his face. He went to say something but Laura deliberately cut him off saying, “I don’t just wanna be stuck in a city all the time while we’re here you know what I mean? I wanna go to the Great Barrier Reef and..”

“Oh the Reef’s beautiful – I was just out there the other day myself,” he interjected as an excited gleam lit up Laura’s eyes as she thought to herself, “Gotcha!”.

“Really? Lucky you! Oh – I can’t wait to see it! Did you go diving or snorkelling?” Laura enthused in an effort to get more info out of him.

His satisfaction in stirring her interest in something loosened his tongue somewhat as he replied, “No unfortunately not – it was more of a business trip. Just had to take care of a few things.,” then trying to press his luck he added as he gave her a meaningful look, “But..ah if you’re interested, I’d be happy to take you out there on my private yacht.”

“A private yacht?! Wow – Richie doesn’t even own one of those!” Laura replied, pretending to be impressed.

“Well maybe you and I can come to an ..arrangement huh and you can be my guest on that yacht whenever you like?” he whispered as he leered at her and ran a hand over her behind. In response, Laura smiled over-sweetly at him and stomped hard on his foot with her heel, leaving him howling in pain as he let her go. ”Oh I’m sorry – I must have two left feet,” she gave him a fake apology just as Remington reached her side, trying to hide his smirk after he’d witnessed his wife in action, doling out her own brand of payback.

“Mind if I cut in? I’d like my wife back if you don’t mind..mate,” Remington stated, shooting a steele hard glare at Thomson who flashed them both a dirty look and muttered, “She’s all yours,” as he stormed back to their table to ‘lick his wounds,’ both to his foot and to his ego.

Meanwhile Remington took Laura into his arms as they started dancing. “You okay?” he asked with some concern as she nodded. “I’m fine,” she reassured him, “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

At that a lopsided grin crossed Remington’s face. “Oh I saw that. I think ole Thommo will think twice about messing with you again,” he chuckled. “Did you manage to get anything out of him?”

“Yes I did in fact, which was worth having to dance with that obnoxious lech. He mentioned he’d been out to the Great Barrier Reef the other day,” Laura informed him. “Obviously that doesn’t necessarily prove had had anything to do with the research pontoon being sabotaged but it is rather coincidental don’t you think?”

Remington nodded thoughtfully. “Yes indeed,” he stated.

“How about you? Did you get anything from Mrs Thompson?” Lara asked.

“Well apart from a proposition,” Remington stated with an amused expression as Laura looked surprised, “She did also mention that her husband had been out to the reef as he had some things to do out there.”

“She propositioned you?” Laura asked with a laugh as Remington nodded. “Yes well apparently she and her husband have an ‘understanding’ – they turn a blind eye to each other’s dalliances so it seems. But I informed her that I was strictly a one woman man and that I’m very much taken,” he replied with a smile which Laura returned as he pulled her closer to him.

“They’re quite the couple aren’t they?” Laura stated with a rueful shake of her head. “Mr Thompson offered to take me on his private yacht out to the Reef.”

Remington raised an eyebrow at her as a muscle worked in his cheek. “Oh did he now? And what did he want in return for his generous offer?” he retorted.

“Trust me you don’t want to know,’ Laura replied as she gave him a meaningful look as he struggled to keep his temper in check. “Why that bloody bugger! Who does he think he is - making such improper suggestions to my wife?!” he fumed. Laura put a restraining hand on his arm. “Rem – calm down! I think my heel to his foot made the point perfectly clear, forgive the pun, that he was out of line. And if you were to punch his lights out I think I’d have to do the same to Mrs Thompson for propositioning you!” she pointed out with a dimpled smile which calmed him down a bit.

“Now more importantly Mr Steele, I think we need to plan our next move don’t you think? It’s one thing to have a lead but we need to find proof he was involved,” Laura added.

“Well if that Col Smith fellow is who I think he is and he’s working for Thompson I’d put odds on their being involved somehow,” Remington stated. As if on cue, Col Smith came up to them at that moment and tapped Remington on the shoulder.

“Sorry mate my dance card’s full,” Remington quipped as the other man scowled at him. “I don’t want to dance with you mate – I just want to have a little chat. That is if you’re missus can spare you,” Col retorted, his tone and expression suggesting that he wasn’t making a request.

Remington and Laura exchanged a slightly worried glance before putting their game faces back on. “Oh sorry Col honey but I couldn’t possibly let Richie go until we’ve finished dancing to this song – it’s our favorite,” Laura said as she wrapped her arms around her husband, holding him close.

“Oh I reckon you could spare him for a few minutes sweetheart to catch up with an ‘old friend’. Didn’t your hubby tell you we go way back?” Col stated with a sardonic smile.

“I’m sorry mate but I really think you’ve mistaken me for someone else,” Remington tried to convince him.

“Oh I don’t think so. See I never forget a face and I distinctly remember yours and that older bloke you were with, about ten years ago I’d say. Tried to nick the opals me and my partner were after and then you and your mate spun us some yarn expecting us to believe it like we were a couple of drongos. You might be trying to sound like an Aussie now but I know you’re still that same snobby sounding Pom – you can’t fool me mate! I tell you one thing, lucky you took off when you did back then, but seeing as you’ve decided to visit again it’s only fair I give you a nice warm Aussie welcome back,” Col seethed, a menacing look in his eye.

“Now listen here buster!” Laura decided to take control of the situation as she stepped in front of Remington and poked Cole in the chest. “I don’t know who you think you are or who you think my husband is but I don’t appreciate you interrupting our dance and ruining our night! C’mon Richie honey we’re out of here! And I thought you Aussies were supposed to be friendly!” she spat at him, then she spun on her heel and grabbing Remington’s hand pulled him through the thick of the crowd on the dancefloor. Col tried to follow them to no avail as he lost them in the crowd as they hastily made their way towards the exit.

“Thanks,” Remington said gratefully once they were out of the building safely. “I can always count on you Laura to have a brilliant plan to save our skins!” he added with appreciation as Laura rolled her eyes at him. “Well thanks to your’s and Daniel’s former escapades, this case just got a whole lot more complicated!” she fumed. “Can we not even travel half way across the world without running into trouble with someone from your damn past?!” she demanded as Remington shot her a rueful lopsided grin, “What can I say Laura? I can’t help it if I’m popular!”

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	8. Chapter 8

Remington and Laura quickly hailed a cab and gave the driver Nic’s parents’ address. Still somewhat angry with her husband for the predicament he’d inadvertently put them in, Laura stared out the window, silently fuming.

In an effort to break the silence Remington tried to plead his case. “Look Laura I’m sorry we had to make a rather hasty exit and things have become a bit more complicated, but in my defence, I had no way of knowing that Colin Smith fellow was likely to be there. “

Laura knew he was right but she wasn’t about to let him off scot-free – after all it wasn’t the first time his less than stellar past had come back to haunt him, and as a result, her as well. “Well you could have at least come up with a different name than the one you used when you were here last,” she retorted under her breath so the cab driver couldn’t hear, her displeasure obvious in her tone.

“Well I just thought it would be a nice touch for us to be Richard & Laura Blaine again, given that we used those names when we were posing as a married couple at the Friedlich Sensitivity Spa and now we are actually married,” Remington argued in a hushed whisper, a slight pout which Laura found hard to resist, crossing his face.

Her ire cooled a bit, she sighed as she rubbed her forehead, “Well yes I guess that was a nice touch,” she admitted as Remington’s pout transformed into the hint of a hopeful smile. “But to the matter at hand – your friend Mr Smith is likely to spill the beans to Thompson that you may not be all you appear to be. Or at the very least that you used to have a different profession, which I’d say is likely to make him rather suspicious of us, so our cover is effectively blown.”

Remington chewed on a fingernail, knowing she was right. “Well the sooner we get out to the reef and get some evidence to nail these buggers the better,” he muttered as Laura nodded in agreement.

Once they reached their destination they paid the cab driver and headed inside the house to find Nic sitting up waiting for them. “So how did it go?” she asked expectantly as Laura and Remington exchanged a glance and sat down opposite her at the kitchen table. “Well..,” Remington hesitated a bit before continuing, “we did manage to get some useful information.”

Nic looked at the two of them. “Why do I get the feeling there’s a ‘but’ coming?”

Laura sighed with an apologetic smile. “Because there is. We ah.. ran into an unforeseen complication.”

“What?” Nic asked.

A sheepish look crossed Remington’s face as he explained. “We ran into someone I’d encountered the first time I was in Australia and let’s just say he wasn’t particularly glad to see me.”

In response to Nicole’s questioning look, Remington raised an eyebrow at his wife who subtly nodded, letting him know it was okay to tell her old friend the story of his life before he became Remington Steele and how he came to adopt the name that he now called his own.

Nic’s eyes widened as he told her his story, leaving out a few details here and there but she got the gist of things. “Well you’re full of surprises Rem aren’t you?” she stated with a laugh as he flashed her a lopsided grin and Laura patted him on the arm and said with a chuckle of her own, “He certainly is.”

“And you Laura – inventing a male superior? You go girl!” Nic added with admiration.

Well a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” Laura replied with a smile which was mirrored by her husband.

“So do you think this Col Smith bloke will blow your cover to Thompson?” Nic then asked with concern.

“I’d say there’s a fairly good chance. But the good thing hopefully is that even though they might know I’m not Richard Blaine - energy company CEO, they won’t know I’m Remington Steele, private detective.”

“Well yes let’s hope that’s the case,” Laura put in, then a thoughtful expression crossed her face.

“I like that look in your eye Laura – what are you thinking?” Remington asked.

“Well I was thinking maybe we could use this to our advantage,” she stated with a gleam in her brown eyes as her husband and friend both looked at her curiously.

“If your old ‘friend’ Mr Smith still thinks you’re a thief maybe you could convince him that you’re still in the game and looking for a quick score? Then perhaps you might be able to get some more evidence that incriminates Thompson,” Laura explained as Remington flashed her a rueful grin. “You know Laura that might just be worth a try – so long as I can convince him not to inflict grievous bodily harm on me.”

“Well we’ll hopefully get some more clues once we get out to the reef and can inspect the pontoon,” Laura added going into detective mode, as Remington and Nic nodded.

“Oh I spoke to Craig too tonight – convinced him to get his butt up here & visit Dad. He’s flying up tomorrow. That’s not going to be a problem I hope?” Nic asked hopefully. Laura looked at Remington who hesitated just for a moment then shook his head with a smile. “Not a problem at all. We all have our pasts after all eh?”

“Indeed we do Mr Steele,” Laura replied as she gave him a knowing look and a peck on the cheek. She then turned to Nic and asked with concern, “What happened between him and your Dad anyway? I thought they were close.”

Nic sighed. “They were once upon a time – until Craig dropped out of his engineering course at uni to become an electrician. He was never really the academic type – he only started at uni because that’s what he was expected to do. Dad was dead against him dropping out and they had a huge fight about it and things haven’t been the same between them since. Problem is they’re both as stubborn as each other.”

“Well I hope they can work things out, before it’s too late,” Laura stated sincerely as her friend gave her a grateful smile and replied, “Me too.”

“Yes life’s too short to waste time with anger and resentment,” Remington put in, remembering his last hours with his own father. He had initially reacted badly to Daniel’s revelation that he was in fact his long lost father – the man he’d been searching for his whole life. A lifetime’s worth of bitterness & hostility had welled up inside him as he unleashed a tirade on Daniel before storming out of the room.

Looking back, he now realised he had wasted precious time brooding, wandering the grounds of Ashford Castle alone trying to deal with the conflicting emotions that were raging within him, until Mildred had found him. Precious time he could have spent with Daniel making amends and discovering the keys to his past, including the mystery that had always eluded him – his own name. Instead, after Mildred had convinced him not to leave things between him & Daniel like that, he had only been able to share a few more minutes with his father, recalling the good times they had spent together over the years. Knowing as he did that, ironically as it turned out, Daniel had been the closest thing to a father-figure he’d ever had. And then in a cruel twist of fate Daniel had passed away before they could spend any more time together as father and son.

Brought back to the present moment, he continued chatting with Laura and Nic before the three of them decided to call it a night, Remington and Laura making do in the double bed in the guest room that was a bit on the small side, although neither of them were complaining.

“Hmm this is rather cosy,” Remington whispered with a mischievous lift of an eyebrow as he wrapped his arms around Laura, one of his hands trailing up and down her back then a bit lower.

“Rem..behave yourself,” Laura murmured with a dimpled smile as she grabbed his hand. “Why?” he murmured back as he started planting little kisses on her face.

“Because Nic’s parents are in the next room that’s why,” she pointed out as Remington flashed her a lopsided grin. “And? From the snoring I can hear they’re both fast asleep,” he argued, his hand wandering a bit more in an effort to convince her.

“I don’t know Rem – it just doesn’t feel right in my friend’s parents’ house,” Laura hesitated a little, although she was fast losing the will to protest.

“Come on Laura – where’s that wild girl Nic keeps telling me about eh?” Remington challenged her, knowing she could never refuse a challenge. “And quite frankly I think I’d have more chance of waking people up and more explaining to do if I have to take a cold shower in the middle of the night than if we …well you know what I mean,” he added as he gave her a pointed look and pressed his body even closer against hers, so she couldn’t ignore the irrefutable proof of his arousal.

Laura knew he was right and she also knew she was as aroused as he was, his touch and the close proximity of his body to hers having its usual effect on her. “Well alright then – but you better be quiet,” she warned as she gave him a meaningful look and linked her arms around his neck.

“Me be quiet?” he let out a low throaty chuckle, “I think you need to heed your own advice there my love,” as he silenced her retort with a kiss, and they proceeded to let their bodies do the talking, both of them trying to stifle their laughter as they discovered the bed had a definite squeak to it….


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning they came into the kitchen to find Nic and her parents already up. “Morning you two – had a good night did we?” Nic greeted Laura and Remington with a meaningful look and a cheeky grin as Laura blushed furiously and Remington couldn’t help a lopsided grin of his own. “Fine thanks,” Laura answered, trying to sound casual, as she busied herself pouring some cereal into a bowl.

“Bed comfy was it?” Nic continued, enjoying teasing her friend as Laura shot her a withering look and Remington quipped with a mischievous wiggle of his eyebrows, “Oh very much so.”

“Oh leave them alone Nicole – they’re newlyweds after all,” her mother Jean scolded her, taking pity on the young couple. “You remind me of Bob and myself when we were first married. At it like rabbits weren’t we Bob?” she remarked with a laugh as Nic’s father chuckled and nodded in agreement and it was suddenly Nic’s turn to look embarrassed. “Mum!” she exclaimed in a shocked voice.

“Oh settle down pet – how do you think you and your brother got here? In fact Craig was a honeymoon baby and then this one here came along not long after,” Jean remarked as she affectionately ruffled her daughter’s hair. She then turned to Laura and Remington and asked, “So how about you two? When are you planning on starting a family?”

Laura almost spluttered her coffee as did Nicole while Remington’s grin got even wider.

“Well..um..not straight away..,” Laura replied, somewhat taken aback.

“Seriously Mum – talk about putting them on the spot! Why don’t you mind your own business!” Nic chided her mother.

“Well I’m just asking that’s all. I mean look at the two of you – you’d make such beautiful babies!” Jean enthused as she looked at Remington and Laura with a smile.

“Well thankyou Jean that’s very kind of you to say so. I mean we do want to have children one day,” Laura replied.

“Yes loads of them,” Remington put in enthusiastically as Laura rolled her eyes a little at him. “Well maybe not loads – but a couple would be nice,“ she clarified.

“Jean leave them be now – they’ll work that all out themselves. Now how’s this investigation of your’s going? Any closer to solving the case?” Bob asked, thankfully changing the subject.

“It’s getting there Bob. We’ve got a lead – now we just have to prove it,” Laura replied, feeling a bit more comfortable now the topic of conversation had returned to work.

“And how are you going to do that?” Nic’s father inquired further.

“Well we’ve got a bit of a plan to get a bit more info out of a person of interest we came across last night,” Remington stated.

“Yes Remington is going to do a bit more undercover work - that’s one of his specialties isn’t it Rem?” Laura explained with a smile as he nodded.

“Well I like to think so,” he agreed with a grin. “Hopefully the alias I’m planning to adopt will help me get more info out of this bloke.”

“Well good luck with that mate,” Bob said sincerely, hoping their plan would work.

“Now perhaps you locals can help me – if I was looking to find a, how shall we say, rather undesirable fellow of the criminal sort, is there a particular area of the city and perhaps a specific liquor serving establishment that might be a good place to start my search?” Remington asked Nic’s parents.

“Boy you gotta a funny way of talking mate,” Bob chuckled as Remington looked somewhat perturbed and Laura tried to hide a grin. “I gather you mean where’s a pub in a dodgy part of Brissy where a crim might hang out?’

“Yes exactly my good man!” Remington exclaimed.

“Well that would probably be somewhere in Fortitude Valley – I’ve seen the Kings Head Tavern there in the news sometimes when the cops have arrested some lowlife there,” Bob replied.

The older man then regarded Remington for a moment. “Well if you’re planning on heading over that way Steele you better take some wheels that make you look the part rather than that boring little rental car you hired.” With that Bob got up from the table and went to a drawer and fished out a set of car keys which he handed to Remington. “You can take my old Monaro – I don’t get the chance to drive it much anymore so someone may as well take it out for a spin. Just bring it back in one piece okay?”

“The Monaro Dad? You hardly even let me or Craig drive that!” Nic exclaimed in surprise.

“Well you or your brother didn’t need to go undercover to investigate a case did you?” her father retorted as he winked at Remington. “Now come with me out to the garage mate,” he urged Remington who got up and followed him.

“Wow that’s a beauty Bob!” Remington remarked at the bright red muscle car parked in the garage.

“You bet it is - that’s a 1971 Holden Monaro 350 GTS Coupe and she goes like the wind,” Bob stated proudly.

“Well I promise you I’ll take very good care of it for you Bob. Thankyou – that’ll certainly add to my ‘street cred’,” Remington replied with a grin.

Bob’s expression then turned serious. “You and Laura are going to solve this case aren’t you? Niccy’s worked so hard on her research - it’s not right some bugger can just come and steal it, not to mention damaging their research station.”

“We’re going to do everything we can Bob,” Remington reassured him with a smile.

“Good. I need to know my kids are going to be alright when I’m.. well you know what I mean,” Bob replied as he gave Remington a meaningful look.

Not quite knowing what to say, Remington just nodded and patted him on the shoulder as the two of them headed back inside.

After chatting for a while longer with Laura, Nic and her parents, Remington looked at his watch. “Well I guess I better go get ready,” he stated as Laura nodded. Sometime later after showering and dressing he came back out to the kitchen wearing jeans, a black t-shirt and a leather jacket, his hair slicked back and a diamond stud in his ear.

“Whoa – now that’s a different look for you Rem! Where did Remington Steele go?” Nic said with a laugh as she took in his very different appearance. A smile spread across Laura’s face as she replied, “Nic – I’d like you to meet Johnny Todd.”

*************************************


End file.
